ofairlane

Thanks to all that replied, I appreciate it. I replaced the plugs and wires, I disconnected the battery for awhile then I took it for a test ride, all seems good right now. I ran it for 10 miles or so, it was good and warm and it "seems" fine for now. I deliver mail in this car so tomorrow I will see a true test. I also am pulling no codes now and the CEL is not illuminated as of now. I do know that it may rear it's ugly head soon in the future, till then we will wait and see. DanO

Deyoungc, My speedo in my 99 Legacy does the excact same thing, I also have just gotten used to it, but what i do on occasion is pull outward on the odometer reset pin on the cluster, that is where the breaks in the circuit board most commomly occur from what I read in previous posts. This confirmed to me mine was in that area, not the sensors in the tranny. Oh, by the way, mine is an automatic tranny. I also checked the wire coming from the sensor to the speedo for voltage and it was working fine, sending a varient amount according to the speed of the car. Sorry you bought one on Ebay, I have thought about it also, just didn't want to replace mine with someone elses not working one. I hope this helps you, the new one at the dealer is pricey, try other sites on the web like firstsubaruparts.com or somewhere else. Good luck , DanO

I know about the MAF issues, but I am not pulling any MAF codes with my OBD reader

I need help with a sputtering problem. First I will begin with the car, 99 Legacy, 2.2 automatic. Now the problem, the car sputters, loss of power but when it is cold it seems to run fine. My OBD2 reader pulled 3 codes, 02 sensor slow, I have had this before, never affected to performance, second code is cylinder 1 misfiring which will explain the sputtering, I checked the coil and the wire, great spark and the plugs were changed 2 years ago, I will replace them this weekend, the third code was for a malfunctioning knock sensor circuit, I read some other posts here on this subject and I bit the bullet and paid the 97 dollars for a new one, but still same sputtering. I thought that the knock sensor could be causing the timing to be off therefore affecting cylinder #1, but I was wrong. So, where do I go from here? I bet this may be an easy fix, something I am overlooking, but the sputtering is obviously caused by the misfiring cylinder. I am assuming with previous auto experience, the timing belt if it jumped a tooth would affect the cars performance all the time , so I doubt there is a problem there. So, I have been helped and have given out help, let me hear !!! I will be checking in here over the weekend, so between football games, chime in please, the men with the wisdom are being called. Thanks guys.:-\

Just a follow up, the car is riding smoother than ever, the brakes are working perfectly. I ended up replacing the entire steering knuckle with one from a local junkyard. The hub assy. was spent and the bearing was also on my unit. After installing the used setup, there is no play, no vibration and the brake pedal is solid. Just a note, I drove this car for about 6 months with the bad bearing/hub problem with absolutely no noise from the assy. I noticed the sloppiness while I was rotating the tires. The brake issue arose only one month ago, guess I would never had learned about pad knock back if I replaced the bearing 6 months ago, ahha, a silver lining, something learned can be something taught. Keep on informing guys. DanO:burnout:

Guys, I want to thank you guys, that's why this site rocks ! I cahnged the entire hub assembly cause my race, bearing were all spent, I got a used sterring knuckle assy, installed and no bearing play and no brake problem, as of today. I took it out for a test ride, all seems to be god, the pad knock back thing was it, I will be delivering mail in the car on Thursday, we'll see what happens. I learned a new problem and solution again, I am thankful to the input, Nipper and Virrdog, good job. DanO:banana:

Virrdog, Guess what, I am having a front bearing replaced as we write this, there is some sloppiness, didn't think that would affect the brakes, we will see after the new one is back on the car, thanks. DanO:)

Guys, This one is stumping me, my 99 Legacy wagon with disc front and drum rear brakes gets excessive brake pedal when I am cornering and when I am at a stop and shift into reverse. I also noticed as I drive in reverse with my foot on the pedal, the brake pressure in the pedal occasionally increases, the pedal will rise. Let me tell what I have done recently to see if this sheds light, I replaced the front calipers and pads, no problem then. I replaced the rear brake cylinders and shoes. Then I replaced the drums also. I noticed the problem a few days later. I have completely bled the system, I have adjusted the self adjusters and sharpened the edges on the star wheel and the lever. My question, Is the leading shoe different on the drivers side different from the passenger side? Is the trailing shoe different also? I know on the older cars you had to be careful when replacing the shoes, but if I remember, the shoes for each side are identical. I am going to take the drums off again, if I can and see if the shoes are identical, I think they are. Anyone who has had this problem, please chime in. There is also a proportioning valve, I do not know the symptoms of a bad one and the master cylinder seems to be working fine also. Help, Help, Help, I deliver mail in this craft and brakes are really important as they are on every other car. Thanks, DanO:confused: :confused:

Ferret and Cookie, you guys are right on here. The charging system does operate as you stated, the circuit does go through the indicator lamp, it is getting 12 volts on each side, and the regulator or diodes need to get exited in order for the alternator to perform. I have learned this from other members and believe it or not, I think we taught the mechanic who did the work something new also. The system is working fine and I plan on installing a voltmeter or ammeter in the springtime to make me feel better. I do have a printout of the wiring diagram and I will post it soon. Thanks for all the help. DanO

problem is fixed, with mempers info passed on to me, I wired a wire from an ignition switched fuse to the alternator providing 12v to excite the diodes, which was lacking due to a circuit wiring problem somewhere. The system is now charging correctly and although this is a temporary fix till I find the real problem, it works!! Thanks to all!! DanO

Problem has been fixed in a roundabout way. As I was informed from others, I wired a wire from an ignition switched fuse directly to the alternator, bypassing the charge indicator circuit where my problem is. The system is now charging as it should, this is just a temporary fix till I can locate the real problem, good fix though. Thanks to those who passed this fix on to me. DanO

Problem has been fixed, sort of, I had a bypass wire wired from an ignition switched fuse to the alternator. This wire provides 12V to the diodes to exite and therefore the system is charging now. This is just a temporary fix till I locate the original problem, in the meantime I think I will wire in an ammeter to give me peace of mind. Thanks to everyone for your help, this is why I joined this club and to give any help when needed also. DanO

I have explained this in previous posts and I am still unsure what is next. I have a 99 Legacy with a new battery, third alternator(all 3 were good) and no dash warning lite and no charging. I understand the system requires that the light needs to work for the charging system to work also. The problem is finding the problem. Is it in harness, ignition switch, fuse box, etc.. I have seen other members modify this problem by wiring from an ignition hot wire, to the T connector on the Alt. I don't have a T connector, there are only 2 wires in my connector, one 10 ga. white wire( hot ) and one Blk/ Yel or Blk/Wht, I can't tell the difference. Has anyone done this mod with this type of setup and what is the long term results? I do plan on correcting the problem, I just need to get the car on the road and out of my mechanics garage. All help would be appreciated and if you like you can email me also at ofairlane@optonline.net. Thanks again in advance . DanO

I had posted this problem earlier in the week, my 99 Legacy would not charge, replaced alternater, replaced battery, replaced alternater again, still not charging. The alternaters were rebuilds after my mechanic removed the original, the battery is new. All connections are good, battery, ground, starter, fusible link, etc. The fuses are all good also, there is excellent continuity at the alternater to block, belts are tight and still not getting voltage all the time. It will however work occasionally which mystifies us more. To add mystery, the dash warning light does not light up, the bulb is fine but when the key is turned to on position it should light up but doesn't. Has anyone had this SAME experience happen to their car? Does anyone know the series of events that the charging system follows? I am afraid it may be in the wiring harness or the ignition switch. I doubt I have three bad alternaters and I know someone knows the answer to this problem, so chime in when you can. Also, if the charging system(wiring to the alternater or from) needs to be grounded, does anyone know a good bypass do do? Let me have it! DanO:confused:

I have the car in a shop and he replaced the alternater, i think napa might be the supplier. I think the battery shorting may be the problem and I am going to have him check the fusible link connections. the link looke dOK to the eye and when I pulled it , the car died so I know it was doing it's job, but after awhile under the hood, heat may be causing the connection of the link to fail and I will have him check the ground to the block also. By the way, I would usually be doing this at night in my woodstove heated garage with my dog by my side, but due to a divorce, those perks are gone for now, so I just want all to know. I am good at the car repair thing, just nowhere to work on it in New England these days, just temporary inconvience. DanO

First, thanks to all members who have replied, i appreciate it. I have checked the obvious connections for corrosion, i checked and cleaned the battery connections, the chassis connection, except to the block and to the starter. I had a new alternater installed yesterday and it has failed today! I am wondering if something would cause two ALT's to fail or maybe it is the battery. I will keep informing all to the solution to help some other poor sap in the future. DanO

how is it the alternater is failing, will it work perfectly fine one minute and not at all the next?? any alternaters I have replaced in the past slowly failed or failed completely, never had one that would work perfectly then not at all then perfectly again.

I will be driving along in my 99 Legacy, when I will lose all electrical power, no radio, signals, lights, horns, tranny won't shift, then after a bit, it all comes back!!! This happened 3 times today finally leaving me stranded. Car finally died and will not crank over. Earlier in the day,the same thing happened, I got a jump and it worked for awhile, then it died completely again. I am pretty good with cars, but this seems to be more than just a bad alternater or a bad battery. I think a bad alternater would not be good then bad then good and then bad again. Also, in the past few days my check engine lite was lit for awhile, it may be just a coincidence, but I think it may be connected. I do not know if my code reader will read with a dead battery. If anyone else has had this same problem, please chime in with a remedy. Dan

to all the do-it yoursefers, i am going to replace the front calipers on my 99 legacy, the question I have is , are the calipers different on wagons, sedans, etc. , the reason I ask is cause I have a postal legacy and I am afraid I may have calipers that are heavy duty from another subaru, the factory may install them there, I know that they are a single piston type, is everyone elses single piston on the 96-99 legacys???? please only reply if you have an answer, no guesses today guys, I don't want to run around the entire state looking for the correct caliper, oh, by the way, I am trying to avoid the stealers price!!! DanO

try oxygensensors.com, they have afew 4 wire downstream depending on your vehicle. i used the universal, connected the wires accordingly and it worked fine. good luck. DanO

there is a 4 wire o2 sensor out there, ireplaced mine afew months back but i can't remember where i got it but i will look for you. my code was also said cat below threshold and i replaced the cat with a good used one and replaced the sensor also and no codes anymore. i will search for the web site i got the 4 wire sensor and let you know. DanO

this is to all that have automatic transmissions with the spin off type filter. instead of the 38 bucks the dealer gets, try rockauto.com, part no. B-198 ATP filter and it's only 14 bucks. fast shipping too. and they have promotions online occasionally also. hope this is helpful to those who have that tiny little cute filter on their tranny. DanO

i have the same problem with my 99 legacy. i can't get it to work by hitting the trip button. what i did do though was put my voltmeter positive lead on the wire coming from the tranny, and the neg. wire on the voltmeter to ground and checked voltage on that wire, and it was 2-5 volts after accelerating, so i assume the sending unit was ok. sounds like you have a standard tranny also, so the sensor is easily replaced and you are sure IT is new. i would think that there is a break in the wiring between tranny and speedo. also, check the ground at the dash to make sure you have the complete electical path. i am sure the speedo wiring needs to have a ground. good luck and keep us filled in. DanO

you should provide more info on the noise, cv joints usually make a clicking or a clunking noise when turning. is the noise on the left, right, middle of the car? does it make the noise while driving, when accelerating, when accelerating from a stop. info like this would help us help you more. update us on this, DanO

this is the story of my dealings with replacing the o2 sensors on my 99 legacy. to start, my check engine lite was on periodicaly and then the car failed the state emission. the code was cats below threshold and #2 02 sensor heater malfunction among other codes, but thats another story. so, i got another set of used cats (thanks to LDEW), and i picked up the universal 4 wire 02 sensors,1 from rock auto and the other from partsandsupllies.com. i wired them accordingly and correctly, installed them in the cats, put the exhaust on the car, and started it up and a new code, o2 sensor circuit slow. WHAT the F..k! i took the new sensor off the front put the old one back in and no check engine lite, no codes and it runs great. so this is just a heads up to all out there, the universals may not work correctly. i know my wiring was good, the ground was good, maybe the sensor was bad. now i am hoping i get a refund and all will be good. i am not bashing the parts suppliers, cause they both had the parts and shipped fast, so keep them in mind. so, good luck to all those who have o2 problems, DanO